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Tony Orlando should not only be considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, he should be inducted. Tony Orlando recorded his first hit song Halfway to Paradise when he was just 16 years old. He went on to have several more hits. He then became the youngest record producer and signed many well-known artists. He had the number one song of 1973 with Tie a Yellow Ribbon, sold millions of records, had a hit TV show, has done Broadway twice, he is the only artist to win entertainer of the year in Atlantic City and Las Vegas in the same year, and at 66 is still selling out venues across the nation. He is celebrating his 50th year in show business. Tony Orlando has used his fame to raise millions for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Tony Orlando should not only be considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, he should be inducted. Tony Orlando recorded his first hit song Halfway to Paradise when he was just 16 years old. He went on to have several more hits. He then became the youngest record producer and signed many well-known artists. He had the number one song of 1973 with Tie a Yellow Ribbon, sold millions of records, had a hit TV show, has done Broadway twice, he is the only artist to win entertainer of the year in Atlantic City and Las Vegas in the same year, and at 66 is still selling out venues across the nation. He is celebrating his 50th year in show business. Tony Orlando has used his fame to raise millions for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Tony Orlando should not only be considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, he should be inducted. Tony Orlando recorded his first hit song Halfway to Paradise when he was just 16 years old. He went on to have several more hits. He then became the youngest record producer and signed many well-known artists. He had the number one song of 1973 with Tie a Yellow Ribbon, sold millions of records, had a hit TV show, has done Broadway twice, he is the only artist to win entertainer of the year in Atlantic City and Las Vegas in the same year, and at 66 is still selling out venues across the nation. He is celebrating his 50th year in show business. Tony Orlando has used his fame to raise millions for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

I won't deny Tony Orlando's talent. But I don't approve of him swearing on Tie A Yellow Ribbon. There are better ways to express oneself. Songs like this marked a disturbing trend in the early 70s when entertainers began to think that using curses was somehow the hip way to behave. It is a poor example for children who may be listening.

No, he didn't sing 'darn' in the song. Substitute an 'm' for the 'r' and that's what he said. Sure, by today's standards, it's no big deal. But for 1973, it sure was-especially for mainstream radio. Was anybody singing that word just 10 years earlier in 1963 on mainstream popular songs? What happened between 1963 and 1973? God was removed from the public schools and the moral fabric of the country disintegrated allowing what was once unimaginable to become commonplace.

I have no problem with the word hell since it's used in the Bible.
As for Gone With The Wind, well I don't think anybody needs to look any further than Hollywood and its backers for the source of all Satanic propaganda.

I don't profess to be an expert, but I have a hard time imagining that somewhere in the bible, damnation is not discussed? Don't answer. It's unimportant semantics.

I'm not about to defend hollywood. They're pretty much self absorbed and worthless. But the idea that they're satanic? Lets just say that it'll take more than an evangelist hijacking a message board thread to convince me.

Somewhere, Jim Croce is sad that his use of damn in 1973 wasn't criticized. After all, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown was a much more enduring song.

If we'd all just go back to saying "shoot" and "shucks" and "cheese and rice," the world would be much more to your taste? It would certainly be much more boring.

I'm no fan of Tony Orlando. I think it's a stretch to call what he created "art." He certainly doesn't belong in the Hall. But I'll certainly defend his right to use whatever word he wants. And aside from any sort of legal right, I'd suggest that he has a moral and ethical OBLIGATION as an artist to use the PRECISE word that most accurately conveys the emotion he's trying to express in song. Any less, and he does a disservice to his audicence, and a disservice to his craft.

You, as a listener, certainly can choose to listen to his music or not, for whatever reason you choose. If you don't like the fact that he didn't censor himself sufficiently for your standards, simply choose not to listen to his music. That's how freedom works.

But the idea that society is breaking down because an otherwise boring singer used a word that you don't personally find appropriate is simply absurd.

You're right, Paul. Righteousness won't take you to heaven. And in this case the singer isn't really using the curse word to express frustration as much as he's trying to express amazement. The problem though with cursing in general isn't the particular word being used-it's the fact that the person is expressing frustration with their situation instead of accepting God's will. If you really believe in God then you should believe that everything that happens to you or anyone else is for the ultimate good of God's plans for the world. Cursing shows a lack of acceptance of and faith in God's will. Instead of being mad at things that don't go your way, be thankful for the things God has given you.

You can take the most saccharine, uninspired act and Evangelist will find something heretical in their music. If a mild word like "damn" gets Evangelist all riled up, then he/she/it clearly lives a sheltered life.

But you didn't hear words like that in music from the early 60s back through the 1950s. The musicians and the lyrics of those earlier times reflected a more moral society. I don't think it's a coincidence at all that when songs that used curse words started appearing in the late 60s and early 70s that music began to decline and this was also the time that immorality and a general malaise started proliferating. This is what happens when God is taken out of our schools as He was in the early 60s. Look at what what happened after that. Losses on the battlefield in Vietnam, outbreaks of disease like The Asian Flu, VD, madness in the streets, violence and increases in crime. The country was never the same.

A religious education is still available for those with the money to afford private schools but not for those who attend public schools. And there is absolutely no positive religious education available in mainstream culture, that's for sure.